Jean Piaget
Theorist Presentation
Piaget's theory suggests that children go through four basic stages of mental development.
Stage 1.
Sensorimotor Stage-Birth to age 2
The infant knows the world through their movements and sensations
Stage 2.
Preoperational Stage-2 to 7 years old
Children begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent objects. They also tend to be very egocentric, and see things only from their point of view.
Stage 3.
Concrete Operational Stage-7-11 years old
During this stage, children begin to thinking logically about concrete events.
Stage 4.
Formal Operational Stage-12 and up
At this stage, the adolescent or young adult begins to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
Covers all stages of life
Reasoning for each stage
Experiments to back up each theory
Cons:
Every child develops at a different rate
Kids with learning disabilities will be behind
Based on the average child
General Information
Piaget was born August 9, 1896. Over the course of his career in child psychology, he identified four stages of mental development, called “schema.” He also developed new fields of scientific study, including cognitive theory and developmental psychology. Piaget died September 16, 1980.
Applied in the classroom?
I think that Piaget's theories are still used in the classroom today becasue each grade level falls under one of his four basic stages of development. His theories provide background information on why the students act the way they do.